A highly skilled artist of the French school, Alfred Arthur Brunel de Neuville painted primarily animals, still lifes, fruits, and occasionally flowers. A student of his father, he received a rather basic foundation in the fine art of painting, and spent the rest of his career elaborating upon it, improving his talents all the while.

In 1879, Brunel de Neuville began exhibiting at the famed Paris Salon. That first year, he presented to the audience a piece entitled Pommes et raisin, and then in 1880 showed his Halte de chasse, a scene of frolicking kittens very appreciated and widely executed at the time. In 1889, he began to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Francais with a canvas depicting a still life of fish, and continued participating in shows at this institution until 1909. In 1907, this group made him an associated member.

In his celebrated still lifes of fruits, the velvety richness of their smooth and silky texture is set in opposition to the rougher material of wicker baskets. Brunel de Neuville was in addition rather well-known for his wonderful ability to render the texture and shine of copper pots, and this aspect of his oeuvre is commonly reproduced and cited. In the history of French painting, he most definitely earned a lasting reputation as a highly skilled artist with a fantastic ability to bring the contents of his canvases to life.

Literature:

• Benezit, Emmanuel. Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs. (Paris: Librairie Grund, 1976, 1999).
• Hardouin-Fugier, Elisabeth and Etienne Grafe. French Flower Painters of the 19th Century: A Dictionary. (London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd., 1989).
• Hardouin-Fuger, Elisabeth and Etienne Grafe. Les Peintres de Fleurs en France de Redoute a Redon. (Paris: Les Editions de l’Amateur, 1992).
• Hardouin- Fugier, Elisabeth. Les Peintres de Natures Mortes en France au XIXe Siecle. (Paris: Les Editions de l’Amateur, 1998).
• Schurr, Gerald and Pierre Cabanne. Dictionnaire des Petits Maitres de la Peinture 1820 – 1920. (Paris: Les Editions de l’Amateur, 1996).